


Ninjas Play Free: How Warframe Has Become The Best Free-To-Play Game In Existence

by QuickTimeEvents



Category: Warframe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-29
Updated: 2020-12-29
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:54:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28395705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QuickTimeEvents/pseuds/QuickTimeEvents
Summary: A review of Warframe, a free-to-play third-person sci fi shooter game
Kudos: 2





	Ninjas Play Free: How Warframe Has Become The Best Free-To-Play Game In Existence

Warframe is a third-person sci-fi shooter RPG. Published by Digital Extremes in 2012 to limited fanfare, the game has since grown through updates and community support to become a magnum opus among Digital Extreme’s titles. This essay will explore different aspects of this game and how they come together to make what I consider to be the best shooter game currently available.  
Warframe takes place in a futuristic universe wherein technology has reached a pinnacle to be akin to magic.The main character is part of a species of Tenno, a once-proud race of warriors long thought dead. Now the universe is under siege, and the Tenno are called forth to stand guard once again. The truly interesting thing about the way this game tells its story is, as much as the Tenno have their own stories to live and tell, they are also often the conduits by which the stories of other characters are experienced. Any time an NPC is given command, they come to life in very beautiful ways. The Tenno’s presence is definitely felt, but what truly matters in these moments is how the other characters react to it. Seeing the Solaris freed from Nef Anyo, seeing Saya gain closure for her dead husband, even uncovering the mystery of Natah, all gives Warframe the feeling of a vast, rich world teeming with life.  
Another interesting storytelling technique used in Warframe is how the dichotomy between “good” and “evil” is formed. In all of the cultures the game has designated as evil, the political landscape is defined by deceit, treachery, and infighting. The Corpus fall in line with whoever has the most resources, the Grineer only respect warlords, the Infestation wants to assimilate all other forms of life, and the Orokin hold themselves as supreme beings. All of them want the galaxy to themselves, and any time any two of these cultures are present on the same map, combat erupts. Compare this to most other NPCs. Communication is usually calm and civil, and even if fights do break out, they’re almost always resolved quickly and diplomatically, and never devolve to physical violence. In this game, community defines morality. Deception and violence against your brethren is the basis of evil. The best thing anybody can do is foster a sense of peace, trust, and informed diplomacy within the communities in which they live.  
This game has a masterful aesthetic design to it. The game uses a photorealistic art style, which in video games is a brief walk away from The Uncanny Valley. Warframe avoids that in a masterful way. Even when the character design does delve into bizarre, alien body designs and flesh, the models never break so badly as to remind the player that they’re not looking at a real creature. Even if that does happen, they’ve taken care to relegate the effect to characters such as Vay Hek or Nef Anyo, the designs of whom are supposed to be off-putting, given that both characters have heavy cybernetic augmentations and barely qualify as “life” anymore. What’s more, all the character and environmental designs are creative, unique, and so much fun to fly through or slow down and take in, with natural terrain delving deep into speculation of alien worlds as well as wondering what real planets such as Venus and Earth might look like in this futuristic reality, and structures and technology reflecting the species and cultures that built them. The Orokin’s pristine gilded halls that long ago fell to ruin, the Grineer’s fusion of primitive organics with space-age tech, the cyberpunk nightmare built by the Corpus, the rot and decay left in the wake of the Infestation, and many, many more tilesets and backgrounds. None of it feels rehashed from anything else, and given what we learn about the creatures who created these environments, the aesthetic feels perfectly natural and provides an insight into how their nature and society has affected them. All this is to say, Warframe is a beautiful game that uses that beauty to carry its message with great effect, and the artists who made it deserve all the respect in the world.  
The main activity of the game consists of several types of missions. Some require you to transport items to certain areas of the map, others require you to perform tasks without getting caught or killed, some simply require killing as many enemies as possible as fast as possible. Such activities are facilitated by a movement system which mimics principles of parkour while adding an element which defies real-world physics, leading to a fun and responsive travel experience. Also in play is an arsenal which is carried into battle, including a main gun, a sidearm, a melee weapon, a companion, and a Warframe. Different pieces have different abilities which can be augmented using Mods that increase attributes weapons naturally have or even add abilities. Warframes in particular have different supernatural abilities based on a theme chosen for each Warframe. All this combined can create a character that is perfectly functional for any playstyle. Whether it be healing teammates from afar, taking headshots from a distance, or jumping in and tanking tons of damage while sweeping crowds aside, Warframe has an equipment set that you are sure to love.  
There is a premium currency, known as “Platinum,” that normal gameplay does not provide. One must go out of their way to get their hands on this resource, and it is required to purchase most high-level aspects of the game, such as extra inventory slots and pieces of Prime equipment. Most games would keep this kind of resource relegated to a microtransaction. Platinum in Warframe can be purchased with real money, but the true genius of this resource is a Player Market established within the game. Here, players can bring rare resources, including crafting materials for Prime equipment, obtained from opening Relics, and trade such resources for Platinum. Furthermore, the game will sometimes give out Platinum for free on important holidays and as part of contests, and because there is an active reward for dispersing Platinum into the in-game economy, players of all levels are given access to a premium resource without ever having to spend a penny.  
Every aspect of Warframe is brilliant, and every aspect of the game feeds into others to create a masterpiece. The artwork, beautiful as it is, is also carefully designed to convey the deep, living story of the game. The story itself is brilliantly written, using every beat to its fullest potential, while also making the player feel, through the gameplay, that they are making an impact, that they have left their mark upon the world. The gameplay is well-balanced, fast-paced, highly immersive, and provides a perfect way to experience some of the best visual design in gaming history. All of this to create what could very well be the best shooter game ever created.


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